Innovations such as this lithium-ion battery replica, displayed in front of a Chevy Volt, will be supported by the DOE-industry partnership.Credit: GM Corp.

DOE announced on May 19 U.S. DRIVE, a cooperative partnership with industry to speed development of advanced energy-efficient technologies for cars and light trucks. U.S. DRIVE (Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability) will also address the infrastructure needed to support their widespread use. Formerly known as the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, U.S. DRIVE brings together top technical experts from DOE, its national laboratories, and industry partners to identify critical research and development needs. As part of that effort, the initiative is designed to develop technical targets and strategic roadmaps, and to evaluate R&D progress on a broad range of advanced vehicle and energy infrastructure technologies.

The announcement marks the addition of two new members that bring additional focus on electric-drive vehicle technologies to the partnership. The Electric Power Research Institute and Tesla Motors will join DOE and long-standing industry partners that have renewed their strong commitments to collaborative, pre-competitive R&D. Existing partners include the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (the collaborative research company for Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors), BP America, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Shell Oil Products US, DTE Energy, and Southern California Edison. The partners will work together on an extensive portfolio of advanced automotive and energy infrastructure technologies, including batteries and electric-drive components, advanced combustion engines, lightweight materials, and fuel cells and hydrogen technologies. See the DOE press release and the Vehicle Technologies Program's U.S. DRIVE Web page.